Amazons

The Amazons (1910) by Guy Cadogan Rothery (1863-1940) and Religious Cults Associated with the Amazons (1912) by Prof. Florence Mary Bennett (1880–1954) are still two of the very few books ever published on these legendary female warriors.

The world of the Amazons lies scattered between legend and historical fact. Greek writings give many details about the geography, history and anthropology of the Amazon nation and the Athenians in particular were most insistent about the historical reality of a nation consisting only of women warriors.

The Amazons, whether legendary or real, were not confined to the Balkan-Black Sea regions bordering to ancient Greece. As Guy Cadogan Rothery points out, they were known on four different continents.

Florence Mary Bennett examines the traditional Amazons, as mentioned in Greek sources, and relates them to several goddess cults of ancient Greece and Asia Minor. Among them the cult of the Great Mother, the Ephesian Artemis, Artemis Astrateia and Aphrodite, in later mythology a love goddess, but originally a war goddess. Bennet deals with historical facts in an outstanding piece of scholarly research, unveiling not just many historical data about this ancient warrior tribe, but also providing surprising insights into the image evolution of Greek Gods, the double axe symbol and more.